JAVS Spring 2022

one that I was excited about learning in the beginning. No. 33, the fugue, is fiery, as well as intuitive after a play-through or two. Armed with some inspiration, I was ready to begin. I found the first edition—a copper engraving—of the caprices, published in 1815, conveniently available on the beloved IMSLP.org, and used that as my working score. I also consulted a Fuzeau edition which uses the second copper printing of these pieces, published in 1869. It was enlightening to look at Campagnoli’s unadulterated copy and notice the scarcity of fingerings (the implication being first position reined unless it was not possible) and the places where he had chosen to mark fingerings and bowings. A lot of the fingerings and bowings felt very counter-intuitive to my modern training, but when I approached them as a period player, they made much more sense. For example, no. 17, Variation 3 has both fingerings and slurs written into the piece by the late and great William Primrose that were completely opposite to Campagnoli’s

approach. Primrose’s edition is the standard copy used now, published by Peters.

We may pause here to appreciate the artistry and legacy of both concert violists, while recognizing the very different eras in which they lived and played. Campagnoli’s style was solidly Classical, looking backward to the Baroque era while also dabbling in some Chopin-like Romanticism (see no. 21, the Polacca). Though we will never know what Campagnoli sounded like, we do know that musicians of this era played primarily in first position. They generally did not use many slurs or vibrato. Rhetoric was an important word—in stringed instruments this implied that the bow was the main tool of expression, the tongue of the instrument. Primrose was a mid-nineteenth century Romantic player, which is still the style emulated in most conservatories today. This style is heavy in slurs, position work, and shifting, favoring expression through the left hand over the bow arm. As much as I am a Primrose fan, his edition was kept on the shelf, save for a few cross-edition note checks.

Figure 1: Campagnoli, 41 Caprices, no.17, variation 3, mm.1-7, original edition.

Figure 2: Campagnoli, 41 Caprices, no. 17, variation 3, mm. 1-7, Primrose edition.

60

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 1, Spring 2022